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Akira Hayama
}} Akira Hayama (葉山 アキラ Hayama Akira) is a 92nd Tōtsuki Generation student and Jun Shiomi's assistant. He is proficient in the usage of spices and is known for his incredible sense of smell and mastery of aroma. Appearance Akira has long, white hair that is mostly tied in a ponytail when he is cooking. His bangs are neatly swept to the right. He is also considerably tall and has a dark skin and green eyes. He often wears his school uniform unbuttoned with a shirt inside, with a loosen tie around his uniform collar. When Akira cooks, he wears a dark chef's uniform. In his youth, Akira's hair was shorter but still retained his side swept bangs. His clothes were much dirtier considering the living conditions of the neighborhood he grew up in. Personality Akira is a confident and calm student in Tōtsuki. Because of his sharp sense of smell that rivals Erina's God's Tongue, Akira proudly displays his ability and is not shy to say that he is the best chef in the school because of it. Like many of his classmates, Akira firmly believes that he will stand on top of Tōtsuki thanks to his abilities and is one of the few people who will stand up to Erina, declaring that he will claim her spot. Akira tends to stay in a neutral mood, rarely showing any sort or shock when confronted by any opposing force, even the likes of Subaru Mimasaka and Ryō Kurokiba. It is stated by Fuyumi Mizuhara that he only thinks about winning, never considering if he will fail or lose. He is extremely diligent, always covering up for any sort of mistakes that Jun forgets to do around the seminar room. Much of Akira's drive comes from Jun Shiomi who found him in the streets of an unknown country. She brought him to Tōtsuki to expand his horizons. Since then, Akira has been thankful and has served as her assistant. He has stated that Jun is the reason why he continues to cook. As such, he even denied a lucrative job at the Haubi Food Company solely because his only purpose is to help Jun and refuses to stand at the top of Tōtsuki without her help. However, he is not above scolding her for being neglectful and even lectures her when she is irresponsible despite the fact that she is an adult while he is still only a student. History Childhood Akira was orphaned at a very young age and has no memory of his parents. He lived many years in the slums of an unnamed country, often scavenging through trash for food only to be subsequently beat up by adults. During one of his outings, he headed to a local marketplace and saw a young girl attempting to buy spice from a merchant. However, before she could buy them, he warned her that he could tell from his acute sense of smell that she was about to buy a weak blend. Although it greatly upset the merchant, Akira escaped with the girl and told her that a little girl should not be in such a shady marketplace alone. To his surprise, she introduced herself as Jun Shiomi, an adult lecturer at Tōtsuki Culinary Academy. Impressed by his smelling abilities and learning that Akira was an orphan, Jun immediately adopted him, taking legal custody of him and gave him his name. Life in Tōtsuki Culinary Academy Akira quickly began learning how to cook and get a formal education so he could live in Japan. Eventually, he was accepted into the middle school section of Tōtsuki Academy and completed it. Akira was present during the Spring Orientation Ceremony and witnessed Sōma Yukihira give his infamous opening speech, sparking some interest in Akira to challenge him. He made it through the Tōtsuki Friendship and Rapport Training Camp and was eventually selected to participate in the 43rd Annual Tōtsuki Autumn Election. Plot The 92nd Orientation Ceremony Main article: Introduction Arc Akira, while sniffing a bar of cinnamon, attended the 92nd Tōtsuki Generation Orientation Ceremony and heard the speeches delivered by Senzaemon Nakiri and Sōma Yukihira.Shokugeki no Soma episode 3 The 43rd Annual Tōtsuki Autumn Election Main article: Tōtsuki Autumn Election Arc During the camp, Akira's abilities caught the attention of the numerous alumni as well as the Tōtsuki board, who chose him to participate in the 43rd Annual Tōtsuki Autumn Election. When the participants for the election were revealed, Akira saw his name, but chose to stand away from the crowd as he sniffed a stick of cinnamon. Meeting Sōma The day after the announcement, Jun sent Akira out to the grocers. Upon his return to her Lecture room Akira found Jun standing above Sōma Yukihira, who she had just punched, as well as Megumi Tadokoro who had accompanied Sōma. Sōma and Megumi came to Jun's classroom to seek knowledge about spices from her. Initially, Jun decided to only teach Megumi, denying any help to Sōma due to the trauma inflicted upon her by his Father's test dishes when they were in school together. Akira promptly served some tea and apologized for Jun's rashness as he introduced himself. Though Jun tried to scold Akira for not addressing her as Professor Shiomi, Akira reminded and scolded her for neglecting the spice plants in her classroom which he did instead, causing her to shrink figuratively. Thanks to some goading by Sōma and Megumi Jun finally started to help the both of them by explaining the science of spices. Unfortunately she entered her lecture mode, going off on a tangent from the purpose of their visit. With Jun too engrossed in her explanation, Akira invited Sōma and Megumi into the kitchen to try some of his spice dishes. Akira quickly made a Kozhi Varutha Curry dish for the two and a single bite was all that was needed to impress Sōma. Next he whipped up two servings of Goa Fish Curry with one having a minor difference of roasting the spices in one of them that made it more delicious than the other one. Finally, Akira served what seemed to be another Kozhi Varutha Curry plate, however the aroma and flavor was stronger because he boiled the spices in water. After experiencing Akira's curry samples, Sōma noticed that Akira did not look into any of his pots the entire time. Akira explained that his sharp sense of smell benefited Jun as he put her research into practice. Akira informed Sōma that he would be in Block "A". He then told Sōma that his dishes were amusing, but they were no match for someone like him who has mastered the art of aroma cooking. Akira boldly stated that he will be the one to stand at the top of Tōtsuki. To his surprise though, Sōma told him that he would make a curry better than his in the Preliminaries. Confused, Akira asked what Sōma thought about his samples. Sōma admitted that they were terrific, but if anyone could create something more delicious than him, he saw that as a challenge. As Sōma and Megumi departed, Akira declared that in the spice heavy battle for the Preliminaries, there is no way that he could win. Akira spent the summer perfecting his dish for the Preliminaries. After weeks of experimenting, he made a special compound of spices that he guaranteed would place him on top of the Preliminaries, much to Jun's concerns about his health since he spent numerous all nighters to create it. As Jun left, Akira later remarked that defeat would never cross in his mind. Still agitated by Sōma's visit and declaration, Akira silently vowed that he will prove the combination of Jun's research and his cooking skills will set him at the top of Tōtsuki. Tōtsuki Autumn Election: Preliminary Round Main article: Tōtsuki Autumn Election Arc As the Summer Vacation concluded, Akira arrived at the venue where the other 59 participants in the preliminary round began to gather. Inside, Akira immediately spotted Sōma in the crowd. As he walked pass him, he smelled a faint aroma of spices from Sōma's fingers, acknowledging that Sōma put in some effort over the summer. Sōma restated his promise to show Akira his superior curry as Akira walked away. Shortly after, the lights dimmed in the arena as Senzaemon Nakiri entered, congratulating the 60 students for being chosen for the preliminaries and telling them the history of the very hall they currently stood in. Senzaemon officially began the 43rd Autumn Election and Akira quickly headed to the Block A arena. As the Preliminary Round began, Akira quickly set off to work and was quickly noticed by the crowd and the head judge of Block A, Natsume Sendawara. When she looked at his station, he was using a sea bream head as the base for his curry. But, he was focusing on making naan bread, which the crowd seemed to find boring, however Jun was the only person to truly capable of seeing Akira's true motives. Nevertheless, Akira continued his expedition by adding lemon grass to his curry base, filling the arena with an alluring aroma. Wanting to know what Sōma was doing, he quickly glanced at his station to see him asleep, seated on a stool. However, Sōma quickly woke up and opened his pot, releasing a strong aroma and revealed that he was making a risotto. Akira walked over to Sōma's station and quickly broke down what he was using, however there was something he still could not detect amongst the aroma. Although impressed, Sōma assured him that he had spent literally up until the last minute devising his dish. Akira returned to his station and finished his dish before the cooking period concluded. As the judging round began, Akira stood with the rest of the Block "A" participants as he waited for his turn to have his dish judged. One-by-one the students presented their dishes, however, for all of the first wave of students, none were able to earn a score of 50 points or higher out of 100, let alone convince Orie to award a single point. However, this trend ended with Ryō Kurokiba, whose dish was the first to entice Natsume to take a second bite and award him points, giving him a score of 93. As more and more of the remaining Block "A" participants presented their dishes, each managed to earn a satisfactory score of over 80. Finally, it was Akira's long awaited turn as he presented his curry. The judges were confused by the pot pie appearance of the dish. Akira instructed the judges to push onto the naan top into his Naan Pot Pie Curry using a spoon as he tossed one to Sōma so he could eat his serving of Akira's dish. As Sōma and the judges pressed the spoon onto the naan, causing it to collapse, an aroma explosion escaped from the dish, enveloping the entire arena. Akira used the pot pie design to ensure that the impact of the aroma would hit the judges and Sōma with as much force as possible. As the judges picked out the dish, Natsume recognized that the secret spice used was holy basil, a spice that is not grown in Japan and is hard to cultivate. Akira revealed that he grows them in Jun's seminar room. Finally Sōma recognized that he had used yogurt to make the basil more mild and for the nutritional effect. Natsume was so impressed by Akira's dish that she offered him a lucrative job with the Haubi Corporation for any sum of money he desired, but Akira turned her down as he only fights for Jun. With his impressive dish, Akira was awarded a score of 94 and even managed to earn two perfect 20 scores from Natsume and Makito Minatozaka. Immediately after Akira's judging concluded, Sōma stepped up next. Akira could not understand how Sōma, who had known almost nothing about spices a month prior, was smiling so confidently. Sōma unveiled his dish which was an omelet, not a risotto. However, Sōma took out a spoon and slashed his omelet, releasing an aroma bomb of his own while revealing that the risotto was inside. As the judging of Sōma's dish began, Akira was impressed by the dish and discovered that his flavor depth came from mango chutney. The judges felt like Sōma's dish went blow for blow against Akira, however he earned a score of 93, one point less than Akira. Although it seemed that Akira got a decisive victory, upon closer inspection of the judges' scores, although Akira earned perfect 20s from Natsume and Makito, Sōma got more points from Shigenoshin Kōda and the two unnamed judges. This caused a small scuffle between the judges for their different views of Akira and Sōma's curry. Akira was unsure if his victory was as sure as it has seemed, but nevertheless, he qualified for the Main Tournament along with Sōma, Ryō, and Subaru Mimasaka, who presented after Sōma, stopping Zenji Marui and Shun Ibusaki's 4th place tie. Tōtsuki Autumn Election: Main Tournament Quarterfinals Akira was present at the Arena for the first day of the Main Tournament. However, his match was not until the second day so he watched from the stands. After the first two quarterfinal matches concluded, Akira left the arena and walked past Sōma and Takumi. Later that day he was sumoned to Tōtsuki HQ to learn about his match's theme as well as his opponent: Hisako Arato. That night, Akira laid out in a field, staring at the night sky. Jun found him and told him not to focus too much on winning. Despite her concern for him, Akira took her words as a boost to his morale and vowed to win the tournament for her sake. On the second day of Main Tournament Quarterfinals, Akira's match was the first of the day. As he and Hisako walked into the arena, their theme, hamburgers, was announced to the audience. While they walked to their stations, Akira told Hisako to make sure that Erina was ready to give her Elite Ten Council seat and Tōtsuki's top to him. Unimpressed, Hisako responded to Akira's boast by saying that she will join the Elite Ten first to be with Erina. During the cooking period, Akira was busy at work piling meat for his doner kebab. Hisako presented her dish first and was well received by the judges, but as it concluded, Akira began to cook his first patty. As it sizzled, the aroma from it filled the arena causing all of the attention from the crowd to immediately shift to him. Akira told Hisako that there was more to food than just taste from the mouth. Akira unveiled his dish, a Kofta Kebab Burger. Even though the judges had just finished Hisako's dish, they could not contain their curiosity to his dish after taking a hit from its aroma. A single bite from his burger completely engrossed the judges. Soon enough, despite the heaviness of his dish, the judges finished his burger before they could realize it or properly judge it. Luckily, Senzaemon had enough control of himself to fully pick out the secrets of the burger. Akira used Pita bread to contain the burger while sealing the meat's juices. Next, for his hamburger, Akira used kofta to make full usage of his spice knowledge. As Hisako stood in shock from the judges eating his heavy burger quickly, Akira explained to her that hamburgers have 4 main components: buns, the patty, the sauce, and pickles. He explained that a good burger utilizes all four and that pickles are used to contrast flavors and make the meat's flavor stand out more. He unveiled his pickle choice, achaar, which caused the fat and bad smell of the lamb to become a truly addicting flavor, explaining the judges' actions. Akira told Hisako that he was aiming for the top and was not about to be defeated by someone settling to be "No. 2", calling her will and her "world of cooking" too limited. Akira was declared the winner of his match. Semifinals Shortly after the Quarterfinal round concluded, Akira received word that his match for the Semifinals would be against Ryō Kurokiba and the theme of the match will be a western dish theme. During his week to prepare, Akira did his usual test of his sense of smell by blindfolding himself and tying himself to chair as he asked Jun to prepare a plate of various spices for him to guess. With extreme accuracy, Akira was able to discern the spices on each dish and even noted which spices were on the left dish and which ones were on the right dish. Confident that he was thoroughly prepared, Akira could not wait for his match. On the day of the Semifinals, Akira sat in the waiting area as Sōma and Subaru began their [[Yukihira Vs. Mimasaka Semifinal Shokugeki|Semifinal Shokugeki]], ending with Subaru's defeat. Akira entered the arena with his opponent as their Semifinal match began. Akira immediately set off to work cooking his dish using duck as the base. During the cooking period, Ryō sneered at him, stating that he did not like that Akira was acting so calmly as they cooked. Although Akira admited that his drive to win may not match Ryō's passion, he assured that his nose will ensure victory in the end, much to Ryō's annoyance. After cooking his duck in the over, Akira began to spice up his dish, but Ryō was giving a strong offensive himself. Akira gave a confident smile as he proceeded to unleash a barrage of spices to complete his dish. Ryō felt like he was being attacked by a large pair of talons, as if Akira had pulled him into his pace. With his dish competed first, Akira presented his Canard Apicius to the judges. With a single bite, the judges were brought to their knees. His Canard Apicius contained innumerable spices, however, despite the sheer quantity of spices, each one gave the dish a different taste and feel with each bite. The judges were allured by this wonderful medley of spices which did not overpower each other, but rather, complimented and enhanced the flavor, something that Gin Dōjima noted could only be possible by a sense of smell as sharp as Akira's. Akira confidently declared that his mastery of spices will separate himself from Ryō, however the fire from Ryō's eyes did not die out yet. Ryō presented his dish, an Eel Matelote. With a single bite, Ryō dish enticed the judges, feeling a strong impact from the dish. Akira was shocked to see the judges eating Ryō's dish as intensely as his own. After Ryō's judging was concluded, it was left to the judges to decide a victory. Unlike all of the other matches in the past, the judges were left unable to declare a clear winner. Hinako Inui and Fuyumi Mizuhara voted for Akira while Gin and Taki Tsunozaki voted for Ryō. With only Sonoka Kikuchi left to vote, she was still unable to choose a clear winner. Although an uproar nearly started, Gin quickly silenced the crowd, telling them that he understood why she was so indecisive. Gin proposed a special exception for the match. Declare both Akira and Ryō as winners and push both of them into the Final round in a three-way battle royale with Sōma, which Senzaemon allowed. Road to the Finals Immediately after the match, Akira was interviewed by the T.S. Newspaper club where he calmly stated that while he was not happy with the tie, he would shake it off and prepare properly for the finals. Satoshi then entered the arena, wheeling out a large block of ice which he promptly smashed to reveal the main ingredient of the final round: Pacific Saury, a fish that would bring out the strong points in each of the finalists, in Akira's case, his reliance on aroma which compliments the aromatic nature of the saury. Jun arrived in the arena to congratulate Akira with tears in her eyes, however he told her to clean her self up. Immediately after, Ryō confronted Akira, calling him a one-trick spice pony, stating that with all of his cards dealt, he would defeat Akira and Sōma in the finals. Akira was quite bitter by Ryō's insult. As he left the arena, Akira resolved himself to show Ryō the true extent of his aromatic cooking. During the week before the Finals, Akira went to a local fish market to pick out the best Pacific Saury to prepare his dish. In the market, Akira went up to a single stand and bought two specific fish on sale just through smell alone. The woman selling the fish noted that those two were the best of the lot. Over the course of the week, Akira honed his dish, using a cooking torch on his intended dish. Although he hit a roadblock, Akira resolved himself to put his entire being into his dish for the sake of Jun. Finals On the morning of the match, Akira went to the fish market bright and early and encountered Ryō there as well. Although they both bought their saury for their match, Sōma was nowhere in sight. Unlike the previous matches, the finals was held in the late evening. There, Akira and Ryō brandished their gleaming sauries while Sōma brought out his saury covered with a mysterious brown powder. Akira told Sōma that he should be satisfied with his third place finish as a result. With the introduction of the judges: Senzaemon Nakiri, Gin Dōjima, and Leonora Nakiri, the roof of the arena opened, revealing the vast night sky. As the moon began to hover above the roof, the match began with its flight path as the match's timer. Akira finished second, presenting immediately after Ryō. Akira brought what seemed to be an hors d'oeuvre dish; a carpaccio. Even the judges seemed confused by his dish choice, but he assured them that his Scorched Pacific Saury Carpaccio was a main course dish as he pulled out a cooking torch. After lightly searing his dish, the aroma alone caused Leonora to double over in ecstasy, even more so with a single bite. Curious as to how many spices were in it, Senzaemon immediately recognized that he only used a single spice: Allspice. With the usage of kaeshi, Akira displayed great knowledge of spices, this time by controlling and manipulating a single spice rather than a medley of spices. Akira's dish appeared to win the judges over Ryō's dish, but there was one last opponent. Sōma presented his dish next and, despite his ingredient judging handicap, managed to perform well enough to cause both Akira and Ryō to sweat. With no clear winner apparent, Akira, Ryō, and Sōma left the judgement to the judges. As they waited for the winner to be decided, Akira thought back to the day Jun adopted him. Although all three dishes were deemed equally delicious and showcased good judgement of ingredients, Senzaemon stated that the one determining factor was who could show their "face of cooking." Through their respective dishes, in the end, Akira's devotion to Jun resonated with the judges, ultimately placing him as the winner of the 43rd Annual Autumn Election. Victorious, Akira merely raised his fist into the air as Jun came down to congratulate him. Upon seeing her, he immediately hugged her, much to her embarrassment. After realizing what he had done, he quickly let go and walked off, reaching into his pocket to take out the cinnamon sticks Jun had given him to make him feel happy. Gin approached him shortly after, congratulating him for his victory, however he cryptically told him to be careful of his overconfidence in his special skill. Next Sōma approached him, asking for a sample of his Carpaccio. Although he was initially not going to do so, Ryō also asked him for a sample and he eventually caved in. As they sampled his dish, Akira told them that the match has determined the pecking order of their class, but neither seemed to care. Finally the award presentation took place as Akira received a gold medal for his win. Stagiaire Main article: Stagiaire Arc Akira was among the first year students who passed the Stagiaire event. Academy Festival Main article: Academy Festival Arc Shortly after easily completing the Stagiaire, Akira attended the Autumn Leaf Viewing along with the other seven Autumn Election finalists and Erina. Sitting next to Ryō, who expressed dissatisfaction that Akira made it through the Stagiaire, Akira casually insulted him back at how he is different from the 'second' and 'third' placers. Soon afterwards, the remaining Elite Ten Council members arrive. After the event began, the second years and Eishi Tsukasa explained the influence they hold, as well as the disparity between the Elite Ten Council and the top first years, for Sōma's sake. They then leave, but not before Terunori Kuga giving out a final insulting remark. However this instead seems to have stirred up Akira's and the other first years' fighting spirits. Cooking Style *'Aromatic Cooking' - Akira has mastered the art of aroma cooking which is heavily based on the smell that his dishes give off to perk up the eater. Akira firmly believes that this art helps to further engross eaters into his food, concentrating on their olfactory senses to truly immerse the eater into his world of cooking. While the dishes smell wonderful, they do not lack in taste, bringing together a harmonious blend of smell and taste. Skills *'Acute sense of smell' - Akira's most defining feature is his acute sense of smell, which is somewhat similar to Erina's God's Tongue. He is able to cook his dishes "blindly" as he can detect any minute changes in his dish just by the changing aroma coming from the pot, thus he can cook without having to look into his pot. His sense of smell is so sharp, that he can pick out and name all spices on a plate from a distance blindfolded and can name their position on the plate in relation to each other. *'Spice Mastery' - Akira has a particular affinity with spices, displaying a wide variety and vast wealth of knowledge of their properties. He is also well aware about how certain preparations of spices during the cooking process can change the overall flavor of a dish, even if the spice preparation was the only change. He has easy access to rare spices including Holy Basil, which normally is hard to care for and is not grown locally in Japan, thanks to his job as Jun's assistant, which he has no problem maintaining on his own. He has shown to be able to use a large amount of spices and create cohesion, and inversely, use just a single spice to make a powerful dish. *'Doner kebab' - A doner kebab is a Turkish dish made by stacking meat then roasting the meat on a vertical spit. After the dish finishes cooking, the chef carves off any excess meat. The process melts the fat and spices throughout the meat. Akira used this device for his Tōtsuki Autumn Election Main Tournament Quarterfinal Match. Dishes Original Dishes *'Kozhi Varutha Curry' - Akira's signature curry dish that uses water instead of coconut milk to cook his curry chicken. Referenced from Tamil Regions of India, Akira's version of the Tamil-Nadu dish would consist of some fresh spices inside the dish. **'Advanced Kozhi Varutha Curry' - Akira's improved version of the Kozhi Varutha Curry and this time the curry is actually made with water to make the curry drinkable without tasting the tense spice upon it. *'Goa Fish Curry' - Akira's seafood curry which is made from sword-fish or salmon. *'Naan Pot Pie Curry' - Akira's personal curry masterpiece during the 43rd Annual Tōtsuki Autumn Election. Mixed with his own Mixed Spice and some other elements like Yogurt and Holy Basil. *'Kofta Kebab Burger' - Akira's dish for the Quarterfinal round in the 43rd Autumn Election. Using pita as bread, Kofta as the patty and adding several rich spices to the taste, despite the heaviness of the burger. *'Canard Apicius' - Akira's dish for the Semifinal round in the 43rd Autumn Election. Pulling out all the stops, Akira effortlessly blended numerous spices on top of a caramelized duck to create a dish that caused the judges to faint from aroma alone. *'Scorched Pacific Saury Carpaccio '- Akira's dish for the Final round in the 43rd Autumn Election. Although originally an hors d'oeuvre dish, Akira used a burner to unlock the aroma of kaeshi used to coat the pacific saury. Although he is known for his mastery of blending spices, Akira solely used allspice, creating not an hors d'oeuvre, but a full course meal. Akira shows the power of aroma "reduction" Clubs * Shiomi Seminar - The seminar also serves as Akira's residency, he is currently the only member alongside Jun Shiomi. Cooking Duel Record The 43rd Annual Tōtsuki Autumn Election Trivia *Akira ranked 9th in the first popularity poll with 405 votes.Shokugeki no Soma chapter 56, page 2 He ranked 8th in the second popularity poll with 1720 votes. *''Akira'', if written in kanji, can mean "bright" or "clear" (亮) - reflecting the childhood expectation that his talent would shed light on new territories of cooking.Shokugeki no Soma chapter 103, page 9 Hayama (葉山) is written with the kanji for "leaf" (葉 Ha) and "mountain" (山 Yama), a reference to his specialty with spices. References Navigation zh:葉山煌 Category:Characters Category:Male Characters Category:Students Category:Tōtsuki Culinary Academy Students Category:92nd Generation Students Category:Tōtsuki Autumn Election Participants Category:Foreign Students